Six candidates to participate in historic 2008 S.C. GOP Presidential Candidates Debate (No Hunter)

SC GOP ^ | 1/9/08 | Staff

[pissant]

Contact: Rob Godfrey, Communications Director 803.807.7144

COLUMBIA, S.C. - Excitement surrounding presidential politics in South Carolina continues to grow as South Carolina Republican Party Chairman Katon Dawson today announced that invitations have been extended to and accepted by six Republican presidential candidates to participate in the 2008 South Republican Party Presidential Candidates Debate in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina.

"The stakes couldn't be higher this election, and we couldn't be more excited to extend a warm South Carolina welcome to six White House hopefuls who are seeking the Republican nomination to be the next President of the United States," said Dawson. "These candidates join tens of thousands of Republicans from across the country and hundreds of journalists from around the world who are converging on Myrtle Beach for this debate because they know the 2008 election could be decided on our stage that night."

The following candidates will be receiving formal invitations from the South Carolina Republican Party to the 2008 South Carolina Republican Party Presidential Candidates Debate (in alphabetical order):

Former Mayor Rudy Giuliani - New York City

Former Governor Mike Huckabee - Arkansas

U.S. Senator John McCain - Arizona

U.S. Congressman Ron Paul - Texas

Former Governor Mitt Romney - Massachusetts

Former U.S. Senator Fred Thompson - Tennessee

Candidates who received invitations to participate in the debate have announced formal campaigns for president; filed the necessary paperwork with the Federal Election Commission and the South Carolina Republican Party to run for president; paid all candidate filing fees associated with their candidacy; met all U. S. constitutional requirements; and garnered at least 5% of the national electorate as determined by an average of the most recent national telephone polls of registered voters conducted by non-partisan public opinion polling organizations leading up to the registration deadline as determined by the South Carolina Republican Party and FOX News Channel; or, place in the top five in the New Hampshire Republican Presidential Primary on January 8, 2008.

The 2008 South Republican Party Presidential Candidates Debate will be televised live by FOX News Channel at 9:00 PM from the Myrtle Beach Convention Center on Thursday, January 10, 2008. FOX News Channel Washington Managing Editor Brit Hume will moderate the debate while FOX News anchor Chris Wallace and White House Correspondent Wendell Goler will ask questions of the candidates.

FOX News Radio (FNR) will also provide listeners with live debate coverage beginning at 9 PM/ET. FNR’s Mike Majchrowitz will anchor the debate live from inside the hall. Following the debate, Majchrowitz and FNR Political Analyst and Washington Post columnist Jeff Birnbaum will provide post-debate analysis. They will be joined by FOX News Radio Correspondent Todd Starnes and several special guests live from “Spin Alley”.

[tiger-one]

am responding to an unwarrnted dis of Fox News. The candidates were weighed and he was found lacking in strength to carry on.

The dis should be directed to the SC GOP and the RNC

[AuntB]

" What ever happened to the line, "I disagree with what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it." Everyone on FR, anyone that calls themselves a conservative or an American should be outraged."

Indeed!

[ksen]

So the New Hampshire debate should have included:

Sure, why not?

They qualified to be on the ballot. They should be qualified to have a chance to air their views.

Since when has it been the media's or the party's job to predetermine who we get to hear and who we don't? Isn't that what the primary season is supposed to be all about.

For all we know a bunch of those other guys would be 10x better than the slate we are currently being force fed.

[pattty]

This just sickens me! I’ll call and email them. Is there something that Duncan can do? This is just so unfair...:-(

[Marak]

Which is a good point, and makes me wonder, why on earth Thompson and his supporters are not outraged?

Excellent question. Once they have dumped Hunter, they will start to eliminate Thompson next. Who will complain then?

[cripplecreek]

Enjoy your next democrat president. I’ll write Hunter in and screw the party of cowards (GOP)

[EternalVigilance]

What ever happened to the line, "I disagree with what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it."

The ironic part is that Dr. Keyes has always followed that dictum. Over the years, he has publicly stood forward on behalf of an open political process for those he strenuously disagrees with on public policy many times.

Of course, none of those folks are now returning the favor..

[Ingtar]

All six of them have real live delegates.

[gidget7]

That is part of it. The media has deliberately prevented him from being heard. Instead they follow Rudy and Romney everywhere they went and served up on silver platters, all the free publicity they could want. Exactly how did anyone hear of Huckabee? Romney? any of them. They heard about the in the media. NONE of the candidates visit every single front door in America. But the media does. They have blackballed Hunter and done their best to see to it that people didn’t hear from or about him. One has to be completely blind not to see it. And it is all done with the blessings of the RNC.

[Little_GTO]

They started dumping Fred at the same time, but since he is a famous TV/movie star the process takes longer.

[AuntB]

“The candidates were weighed and he was found lacking in strength to carry on.’

Yes, he was found ‘lacking’ by ‘the Ted Kennedy wing of the Republican party and the liberal media and people like you who cheered them on from the very beginning. The gloating that some are doing knowing this election is a FRAUD is sinful.

[Jokelahoma]

Jeez.. I like Hunter and wish he'd done better, but he didn't. Stone cold fact. He didn't. And yes, that's past tense.

Read the thing again, Folks. It's the SC Republican Party who laid down the criteria for invitations to this debate.

For those of you who either rushed through the article without reading the whole thing, were so angry after reading the headline you overlooked pertinent details, or are somehow incapable of processing information that doesn't match your preconceived notions, I'll cut and paste the invitation criteria again here:

Candidates who received invitations to participate in the debate have announced formal campaigns for president; filed the necessary paperwork with the Federal Election Commission and the South Carolina Republican Party to run for president; paid all candidate filing fees associated with their candidacy; met all U. S. constitutional requirements; and garnered at least 5% of the national electorate as determined by an average of the most recent national telephone polls of registered voters conducted by non-partisan public opinion polling organizations leading up to the registration deadline as determined by the South Carolina Republican Party and FOX News Channel; or, place in the top five in the New Hampshire Republican Presidential Primary on January 8, 2008.

Running them down one at a time, in case you still didn't get it:

have announced formal campaigns for president: Hunter: Check

filed the necessary paperwork with the Federal Election Commission and the South Carolina Republican Party to run for president: Hunter: Check

paid all candidate filing fees associated with their candidacy Hunter: Check

met all U. S. constitutional requirements: Hunter: Check

Additionally, to get an invite candidates must meet at least one of the following two criteria:

garnered at least 5% of the national electorate as determined by an average of the most recent national telephone polls of registered voters conducted by non-partisan public opinion polling organizations leading up to the registration deadline as determined by the South Carolina Republican Party and FOX News Channel Hunter: Ch... d'oh!

place in the top five in the New Hampshire Republican Presidential Primary on January 8, 2008 Hunter: Ch... d'oh again!

So while the righteous indignation is fun and invigorating, in reality, all your candidate had to do was either get past 5% in national polls or place in the top 5 in NH. He failed in both those criteria. If a candidate can do neither by this point, it's time to pack it in. He's a good guy, and I hope he runs again after working to get better name recognition. But he's done in 2008. No amount of clicking the heels on your ruby slippers or threatening to hold your breath until you turn blue will change that.

[Kevmo]

Everyone on FR, anyone that calls themselves a conservative or an American should be outraged.
***Free Republic has changed. I think of it as a de facto branch of the GOP now. There will not be this outrage that once characterized Freepers, because this travesty favors their guy.

[itsahoot]

.he is a dimocrat not a republican.

No he is a Libertarian of which their are many on this forum.

[visualops]

Awesome!!

[pissant]

They could have just as easily added or had won delegates in previous primary. Which Hunter did in WY, placing 3rd. So it was tailored to exclude Hunter. Period.

[Little_GTO]

I wonder if those rules were in place when Congressman Hunter paid his $35,000 to enter?

[afnamvet]

Rupert Murdoch and his mercenaries roll over to the left side and become the Clinton's mouthpiece.

Faux News indeed.

[WildcatClan]

Since it is a Republican debate how about using red state primaries and caucuses as the metric. If the 1st primary were held in Texas, I rather imagine things would be quite different.

If my argument doesn’t hold water, and all states are the same politically, then let’s just have Iowa and NH and let them decide the nominee for us all. This would not be a great deal different from what we have already, since they are basically deciding for us already.

[AuntB]

“all your candidate had to do was either get past 5% in national polls or place in the top 5 in NH”

And how is a candidate to do that when the Media WILL NOT even admit they’re in the race? Hunter was ahead of Huck & Paul for months in every poll and straw poll, but you wouldn’t have known it. He or Fred have NOT been mentioned getting the delegates in Wyoming. Not a word. Fred is the next to be axed by the media.

You all should be outraged that the media is picking our candidates. This is sick.